September 21 – 22, 2022, 10 am – 12:30 pm
Many thanks to the artist & writer Jasmine Reimer for her workshop introducing our participants to EXPERIMENTAL DRAWING – The New Hybrid Body – Contemporary Surrealist Drawing Techniques – Intensive Drawing Session during the basic course within the Studio Program at BAI | Berlin Artist Residency, Art School, Arts Incubator, and Live Online Courses & Classes.
“For Surrealists, the unfamiliar and foreign were essential. Chaos, rather than order, was the fuel with which they battled totalitarian and fascist regimes. Surrealists used seemingly absurd and spontaneous drawing techniques to render the impossible as real. For them, precise representation was dangerous, or at the very least, insufficient.
As sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia sweeps the world, Surrealism and its methods are once again relevant and powerful. Artists and their audiences seek a visual language to exemplify the fluidity and plurality of the future, of bodies, and identities; a new visual lexicon to confront the violence of right-wing bigotry. In current society, all bodies are at stake, but particularly those labelled “women”, and those situated outside binaries. Surrealism, with its seemingly foreign and hybrid forms, offers an opportunity to embrace change and transformation.
In this two-part experimental drawing course, we will explore surrealist drawing techniques and idea-generating methods. Together, and individually, participants will explore new mark-making possibilities and create figurative drawings based on intuition rather than structure. Jasmine Reimer will present her drawing practice and recent large-scale drawings featuring mythical hybrid bodies. She will also discuss the important role of the hybrid in Surrealism and contemporary art and culture.
DAY 1:
The first day will include a short introduction to the history of Surrealism and hybrids including the art historical Grotesque. The presentation will begin with the commonly accepted founding members of the art movement including Andre Breton, Salvador Dali, and Guillaume Apollinaire, followed by examples of Surrealist artists from around the world. The lecture will discuss how female Surrealists were excluded, with a focus on examples of historical and contemporary feminist Surrealist artworks. The presentation will conclude with an explanation of Surrealist drawing techniques and examples of each.
Using 2-3 traditional Surrealist techniques, participants will then create experimental figurative drawings, both individually and collaboratively.
DAY 2:
The second part of the course will focus on 2-3 different Surrealist drawing techniques including Frottage, a “rubbing” technique, taking participants outdoors to source new textures which will become the basis for experimental figurative drawings.
The images and techniques explored during this two-day intensive course will provide participants with new pathways to explore the contemporary body and body politics. Using traditional Surrealist drawing techniques, participants can begin to explore their own methods of abstraction and invention, potentially revealing their own anatomical lexicon.” (Text by courtesy of Jasmine Reimer)
